Toothbrush



April 1941- BLALTSQTADT 2.237.694

TOOTHBRUSH Filed Feb. 16. 1939 INVENTOR.

I ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOOTBBRUSH BenJamin Altstadt, New York, N. Y.

Application February 16, 1939, Serial No. 256,627

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved toothbrush. l

An object of the invention is to provide a toothbrush so designed and constructed that the user can readily and rapidly clean the so-called vital dental areas of the mouth, and more specifically approximal areas, the occlusial areas, the gingival areas, the cervicals of the teeth, and the interproximal mucous membrane.

A still further object or the invention is to provide such a toothbrush which is adapted for the proper stimulation and cleansing of the gum tissues and the proper polishing of the tooth enamel.

Other objects of the invention are to'provide a toothbrush of the character described which is adapted for use in a restricted and specialized area within the mouth; which provides little or no bristle-resistance in reaching the interproximal and other vital areas; which is adapted for use with irregularly positioned teeth and irregularly anatomically formed teeth; which can be used easily and readily in cleasing the lingual vital areas of the teeth and mucous membrane; which is adapted for use by persons of various ages, including children and adults; which is adapted to reach all parts of the mouth, and more specifically all of the vital areas to be cleansed, with equal facility; in which the bristles are so mounted as to protect the sum surfaces from contact with the brush shaft and from traumatic injury by bristle points, and in which the bristles are so mounted in connection with the brush handle as to facilitate proper motion of the brush with the bristles in contact with the teeth for cleansing the teeth and mucous membrane.

it still iurther object of the invention is to provide a brush of the character described which may bereadily cleaned, which retains resiliency, and which is of long life.

Either objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

'llhe invention accordingly comprises an article oi manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter de scribed and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims. I

For a iuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

which": I

Figure l is a diagrammatic representation oi": a toothbrush embodying the present invention as it is positioned within the mouth of a user: Fig. 2 is an end view of two modifications of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan'view of one of the modifications of the invention shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged view showing diagrammatically a toothbrush of the present invention in one position for cleansing the interv proximal areas between adjacent teeth;

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of the product of the present invention in use in cleaning the lingual surfaces of the lower teeth; and

Fig. '7 is a side view of a modified form of the invention.

The need for eflective and thorough cleansing of the teeth and massage of the periodontium has long been recognized. One of the most frequent factors in the cause of marginal gingivitis is the improper brushing of the gingivae. It has also been well recognized that a great deal of the presence of caries or decay in teeth is primarily due to inadequate cleansing, and more particularly to inadequate brushing at the vital areas of the teeth and gums. Most tooth decay and periodontal and mucous membrane disease has been due to the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of adequately cleansing the vital areas of the teeth and stimulating the adjacent mucous membrane surfaces. Much of this difllculty has arisen because of improper toothbrush construction. Brushes have been designed to scour the exposed surfaces of the teeth,

but without thought as to the difliculty or ease of handling necessary in connection with at tempts to cleanse properly the interproximal and other vital areas.

Many brushing methods have been sug ested and many types of toothbrush designed. The methods of brushing the teeth most commonly in use are the vertical or straight up and down method, the rolling or rotary or centrifugal method, the Fones method, or the Stillman or Charters method, in which a brush should be placed with the bristles at substantially a 45 angle to th long axis of the teeth, the bristles lying against the gum and so positioned that their points do not pierce the gum. The brush is then forcibly held against the teeth so that the bristles are wedged into the interproximal areas, and the brush is then given a series oi slight rotary or vibratory movements so that the sides of the bristles come in contact with the margins oi the gum and massage the gum while the bristle ends extend into the interproximal areas and cleanse them. The brush is not scoured across the teeth. but is moved deliberately from place to place in the mouth, each tooth or area, for example, being treated as a separate problem. I

Heretcfore, while this method oi cleansing the teethhas been recognized generally as a preierred method, no toothbrush has been available for the easy, if not almost automatic, ap-

plication of the Charters method. A principal object of this invention is to provide a toothbrush which may be used in the correct position in any area in the mouth and with which the Charters method of brushing the teeth may be readily and easily performed. It will be understood that the toothbrush of the present invention is adapted also for use with other brushing methods which adequately cleanse the vital areas of the teeth and mucous membranes.

Reference is here made to the recently published volume entitled The Toothbrush, Its Use and Abuse, by Dr, Isador Hirschfeld, which contains an exhaustive treatment of the entire problem.

Some of the difliculties in connection with the use of the ordinary toothbrush, when it is to be employed with the Charters method, may be mentioned. The interproximal and other vital areas, particularly those areas which lie between adjacent teeth, cannot be reached by the con-.

ventional-toothbrush for several reasons. There is too much bristl resistance. It is impossible, for example, to force bristles in between the teeth the considerable distance necessary for adequate cleansing when other bristles are hearing directly upon the upper outer surfaces and reater convexities of the teeth. The fixed and static form of the normal toothbrush is not adapted for differences in anatomical structure found widely. The ordinary toothbrush is bulky. It cannot be swung in the small lingual or palatal are without danger of injury to adjacent. gum areas. As a matter of fact, with the average toothbrush there is substantially no provision for brushing the small lingual are or for manipulating the brush correctly at any of the lingual areas. The brush must, for example, be so positioned that the handle extends upwardly and out of the mouth, and in this position it is impossible to arrange the brush against the teeth with the bristles at the angle preferred in the Charters method. With the usual brush no provision is made to prevent the shaft ends from bruising and irritating gum tissue with which they come in contact.

The product of the present invention is designed to overcome these and other difficulties. In its preferred form it comprises a toothbrush having a preferably rigid handle l to which there are afdxed rigidly a pair of bristle-holding shafts I2. The shafts, as shown in the drawing, may each have a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the plane of the somewhat flattened handle, and, as shown, they are at such a distance from the handle and the bristles are so positioned and of such length that entire device may be placed between the cheeks and the teeth and gums, i. e., in the buccal corridor. These shafts are set off from the handle of the brush, as shown clearly, for example, in Figs. 2 and 3 and are connected to the handle by small, preferably rigid, arms i i. These arms are preferably so positioned as to engage the shafts centrally between their ends. The degree of offset or the length of the arms ,I 4 may be varied with the size of the brush so that the brush may be adapted for use with adults or with children. Preferably the arms 85 are of such length that the shafts B2 are offset, so that when the handle of the brush isheld substantially horizontally, which is always bristles may rest against the gum at an angle inclined to the long'axis of the tooth in the manner previously described in connection with the preferred Charters. method of brushing. Figs. 5 and 6 show the brush of' the present invention in position for use in connection with brushing certain areas in a lower jaw. In Fig. 6 the brush is shown positioned to brush the small anterior lingual arc.

Preferably the shafts E? are short and of such a length only that the brush may be moved freely while employed in cleansing the small lingual are without the ends of the shaft coming in contact with gum tissue. A single row of bristles may be held in each shaft, or, as shown in Fig. 2, each shaft may be provided with a plurality of adjacent rows 22, 28. Where a plurality of rows is employed, a preferred form-is that shown in Fig. 2, where the bristle rows farthest from the handle of the brush are somewhat longer than those,

nearest the handle. Such a structure reduces bristle resistance when theinterproximal areas are being cleansed.

'Preferably the bristles are mounted in the shafts i2 so as to here outwardly, as clearly shown, for example, in Fig. 3. Such a structure acts further to protect the gum areas from injury as a result of contact therewith of the'shafts It.

It should be noted that while the preferred brush of the present invention comprises a plurality of complementary bristle rows, for example the two rows 23 in Fig. 4, it is not intended that both rows be used simultaneously. When the lower teeth are being brushed, for example, the

. upper row of bristles is not necessarily in contact with any teeth. It may, however, be employed to cleanse the grinding surfaces of the teeth, as shown for example in Fig. 4. Primarily, however, the provision of two such complementary bristle rows is intended to facilitate use of the brush with all areas in the mouth. The brush may be readily moved, for example, from the upper to the lower teeth, as shown in Fig. 1, and one bristle.

row may be employed in cleansing the upper vital areas of the teeth, following which the complementary row is employed in cleansing the lower it will be recognized that the instrument deits working position, as shown for. example in drops below the cervical of the teeth, so that the scribed above and shown in Fig. 4 lies, when in operation within the buccal corridor and that the distance of the exposed bristle tips from the handle axis is less than the width of the buccal corridor.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a brush having a single row of bristles in which the shaft i2 is offset from the handle 40 in the manner previously described. Such a brush wouldbe adapted for use in cleansing the small lingual o1 palatal areas in the manner in which the brush shown in Fig. 6 is being employed, but the brush shown in Fig. 7 would not be adapted for cleansing the inner right side surfaces of the upper teeth in the manner shown, for example, in Fig. l. li or such purposes a brush such as is shown in dotted lines at 243 in Fig. '7 might be employed. It will be apparent, therefore, that in lieu of the compound brush shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, a pair of supplemental brushes, such as those shown in Fig. "7, may be used, dutch brushes are to be deemed within the scope oi the invention.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and diiierent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereoi, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific ieatures of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

it propl'iylactic instrument for the simul taneous stimulation oi the mucous membrane and cleaning or" its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one oi the lmown as buccal and lingual, said instrument comprising, in combina tion, a handle, a plurality at short, bristle-holding shafts, each connected to said handle and set out therefrom, a plurality of bristle tuits held ineach shalt, said bristle pluralities making an obtuse angle with each other and an acute angle with a line joining the centers of said shaits.

d. it prophylactic instrument for the simul taneous stimulation of the mucous membrane and cleaning of its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one oi the areas known as bucca-l and lingual, said instrument comprising, in combina tion, a handle, a plurality of short bristle-hold inn shafts, each connected to said handle and set odthereirom, a plurality of bristle tufts held in each shalt, said bristle pluralties making an angle with each other and an acute angle with a line joining the centers of said shafts, one oi said bristle pluralitiw lying substantially in a plane and the other of said bristle pluralities lying substantially in another plane.

3. it. prophylactic instrument for the simultaneous stimulation of the mucous membrane and cleaning of its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one of the areas known as buccal and lingual, said instrument comprising, in combination, a handle, a plurality oi. short, bristle-holding shafts, each connected to said handle and set out therei'rom, a plurality of bristle tufts held in each shai't, said bristle pluralities making en angle with each other and an acute angle with a line joining the centers of said shafts, said handle being connected to said shafts by arcuate arms eirtending from the respective, longitudinal centers of said shafts.

i. it prophylactic instrument for the simul taneous stimulation of the mucous membrane and cleaning oi its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one oi the areas lrnown as buccal and lingual, said instrument comprising, in combina tion, a handle, a plurality of short, bristle-holding shat-ts, each connected to said handle and sli set thereirom, a plurality oi bristle tufts held in each shaft, said bristle pluralities lying in dif ierent, respective planes said bristle pluralities an angle with each other and an acute anale with a line joining the centers oi said said shaits being separated from said bit handle by a distance at least as great as the I average ling heishts oi the euposed portion of normal hn teeth whereby, it said toothbrush is held horizontally in the mouth of a user in position for brushing the inner surfaces oi lower teeth, the base oi the operative bristle row is below the gun line of said teeth.

5. ii prophylactic instent ior the simultaneous stimulation oi the mucous membrane and cleaning oil its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one oi the areas lrnown as buccal and lingual, said instrument comprising, in combination, a handle, a plurality oi short, bristle-holding shafts, each connected to said handle and set oil therefrom, a plurality oi bristle tufts held in each shaft, said bristle pluralities lying in different, respective planes said bristle pluralities making an angle with each other and an acute angle with a line joining the centers or said shafts, each said shalt being shorter than the normal human lowei lingual arc whereby said brush may be moved laterally with said shaft positioned within the small lingual arc oil a user and with handle substantially horizontal.

d. a prophylactic instrument tor the simul taneous stimulation oi the mucous membrane and cleaning or? its adjacent cervical enamel in but only one oi the areas lrnown as buccal and lingual, said instrument comprising a handle, two short bristle holding shafts, each shai't connected at substantially its center with said handle and set on therefrom, and a plurality oi bristles each attached to one oi said shafts, said bristles along one at said shaits being at an. angle with said bristles along the other of said shafts, the bristles on each shalt melting an acute angle with the plane determined by the long aids or that shaft and the longitudinal axis of said handle the bristles at the ends oi each of said shafts flaring outwardly beyond the ends of and at an acute angle with the arts oi their respective shaits, the space within said angle and between its open and said handle being unoccopied.

l. a prophylactic instrent for the simultaneous stimulation oi the mucous membrane and its adlacent cervical enamel in but only one of the areas hnowa as buccal and lingual, said lnstent comprisina a handle, two short bristle holding shai'ts, each at a distance from the axis of said handle and each havina its long aids substantially parallel to the aids of said handle and each connected at a point between its ends to said handle and each havina bristles attached thereto, the bristles on one oi said shafts and the bristles on the other of said shafts lying respectively along the sides oil a dihedral angle having its open along a line spaced from said aids oi said handle and on the same side thereof as said bristles, the enposed ends oi said bristles being at a distance from the longitudinal axis of said less than the width at the buccal corridor, whereby said instrument may be positioned between the teeth sinus and adlacent inner cheer. the erososa'l ends oi the bristles on one oi said shafts being spaced the longitudinal aids oi the respective shalt and the said handle.

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